


Leaves of Fortune

by Arlene0401



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Carnival, Fortune Telling, M/M, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 08:06:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9712685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arlene0401/pseuds/Arlene0401
Summary: Levi, a burnt-out novel author, joins Pixis Amusements on a whim. At first it seems like a curse on him that he has to fill in for the resident fortune-teller Hanji, but unexpectedly it turns into a blessing. In shape of too-hot-to-handle country bumpkin Erwin and his foster son.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Francieswrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Francieswrites/gifts).



> This is my 2017 Valentine's Day gift for [franciesart](http://franciesart.tumblr.com)!
> 
> You asked for a sfw modern au, and your artist profile stated you liked cats and tea. So please enjoy this humble work with eruri dorks, tea leaf reading and monstrous cats Sawney and Bean. Happy Valentine!
> 
> ********  
> I am very much obliged to my lovely proofreaders and editors [ChromeHopLite](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ChromeHoplite/pseuds/ChromeHoplite) and [A26](http://archiveofourown.org/users/A26/pseuds/A26)

Levi rearranged the sliding turban and cursed his cruddy luck.

On second thought, he cursed Hanji and her cold.

Thanks to her, he was stuck in this stuffy little box that was heavily draped and overly perfumed with incense, weighed down with a cliché headdress and so many rings and bracelets he could hardly lift his hands. The cherry on top was Hanji’s cantankerous feline duo Sawney and Bean. Sawney had placed himself behind the crystal ball where his distorted features were guaranteed to induce heart attacks in any unsuspecting passer-by. Bean’s king-size shape was perched on a narrow shelf that had the perfect height for him to flick his fluffy tail over Levi’s face.

Around this time, he would usually empty out trash cans, scatter saw dust over unhygienic splatterings on the midway or execute one of another two dozen maintenance and repair jobs around ‘Pixis Amusements’. But his agreement with Dot Pixis was that in addition he would also help out the operators if needed.

Which was how Hanji had shanghaied him to run her fortune-telling booth. Coughing and wheezing, she had explained him the basics of palmistry, cartomancy, crystallomancy, tasseography, and was about to run a full lecture on a dozen other -ancies and -graphies when he kicked her out.

“This is all hocus pocus anyway,” he grudged. “Now kindly take yourself and your germs away from me.”

“No no no, you don’t understand! Of course it’s hocus pocus, everybody knows that. But people expect a good show. And they expect good news. So no scary card symbols, no interrupted lifelines, no accidents or divorces or bankruptcies. But no spectacular wealth or job offers either. Just… you know… small time luck. It’s Valentine’s day soon, so make sure to predict something romantic.” She tucked some brunet strands that had escaped her bun behind her ears and smiled, eyes behind her glasses sparkling with mirth. “Who knows, maybe you’ll meet your valentine yourself!”

“Yes, that is _exactly_ why I went on a sabbatical. Because I wanted to get me a corn farming hunk at the arse-end of the world.”

Hanji’s expression turned cryptic. “Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve been looking for until you find it.”

“Fuck’s sake, Hanji, where do you get this esoteric mumbo jumbo from? These incense fumes must have addled your brain.”

She made to leave, and he called after her. “Hey, take your flea bags with you! It’s enough I have to run your stupid business, I’m not looking after these monstrosities for you.”

“They decided they want to stay. And they will help you channel your inner clairvoyant.”

“More like channel my itching to get out of here,” Levi mumbled, plucked some brown cat hair from his shirt and glared at the gigantic Maine Coon on the shelf. Bean held his gaze and flicked one of his scarred ears.

As the carnival opened and visitors began trickling in, Levi had little to do. He had no idea how Hanji made ends meet - fortune telling wasn’t really en vogue anymore. Admittedly, Hanji had the suitable mystical aura about her - as if she didn’t tell everything she knew. Sometimes Levi nearly let himself be tricked into believing there was something to it.

Levi wasn’t a carnie. He was a freelance author, and his last book had left him empty and burnt out. Aimless and drifting, he had gone to the carnival on a whim, and as he ambled over the midway the feeling had grown stronger and stronger that this might be the break from everyday life that he needed. Just then he had spotted Hanji, sitting on the step of her little trailer booth with a cigarette. She wasn’t astonished when he curtly addressed her.

“Hey. This business. Is it okay?”

She nodded, dragging on her cigarette. “Looking for a job?”

“Maybe.”

“Hm.” She regarded him thoughtfully. “Running away or running towards something?”

Levi shrugged. “I haven’t decided yet.”

Smirking, Hanji pointed to a trailer that served as management office. She waited until he had walked a couple of steps in the direction, then called after him. “When Dot offers you his flask, it’s wise to turn the offer down. That stuff can corrode steel and make grown men weep. Just saying.”

Hanji had turned out to be a good friend and an excellent listener, and as much as he griped about her smoking habits and her ever-present cats he enjoyed her company. Once he had gotten used to the unique life pulse of the carnival, weeks and months had passed in its own routine. Sometimes he felt confused when he woke up to a new town - it was as if not the midway and trailer park, but the land moved around them. The setup was always exactly the same, from the ticket booths to the small fountain for the coconut slices, from the plastic Venus replica Dot unfailingly placed in front of his trailer to the flags on the Tilt-a-Whirl. He busied himself, in this little bubble of a parallel universe that only temporarily connected to the outside world. People and places came and went, a soothingly meaningless background noise while he felt the pieces within himself slowly falling back into place.

The arrival of yet another bunch of giggling teenagers shook Levi out of his retrospection. Two of them had oversized sports jackets draped over their shoulders, undoubtedly a token from the local high school jocks, and Levi already knew what was expected of him as he reached for the tarot card game. Cheeks lit up excitedly, the girls fidgeted in their seats and cooed at the cats. Bean acknowledged their presence with a yawn and a swish of his tail, while the quieter Sawney remained stiffly behind the crystal ball. The reddish Norwegian was smaller than Bean by far, still it seemed hardly possible for such a large cat to fit itself into such a narrow space. Plenty of experience with the snooping felines however had taught Levi that both were capable of folding themselves to stamp size if necessary. Over the months, he had found them in the most unlikely places imaginable.

One of the girls stretched her hand out to pet Sawney, but he growled lowly in warning. “I wouldn’t touch him if I were you,” Levi informed her. “He bites.” Then he proceeded to lay out the cards for them, freely interpreting the symbols as good looking young men and flourishing careers if they went through with college. Levi didn’t believe in young girls throwing away their education, let alone for some high school team quarterbacks who, in his experience, where overall giant douchebags. To his great satisfaction they emerged his booth talking animatedly about law and nursing school rather than the suitable point at which to let Stanley or Maverick get to third base.

The decrease in the commotion outside told Levi that it was the lunchtime lurch; time to relax a little and brew some tea. He switched on the electric kettle on a small table in the corner and spooned tea leaves into the pot, grateful that Hanji used quality tea for her tasseography rituals. After it had seeped long enough, he poured himself a cup and went to sit outside, with his back to the backside of the trailer and legs outstretched in the cool grass. With a sigh, he pulled the ridiculous turban off his head and scratched at his itching scalp. Fuck Hanji, if her stupid cats had given him bugs or fleas he’d kill her.

From the midway, he could hear some excited children’s voices. “Look, look, a fortune teller! Just what I was looking for!”

“But Eren, Jean is waiting for you by the candy stall - you both wanted to eat cotton candy until you barf!”

“Ew, he shouldn’t do that anyway. But what do you want from a fortune teller?”

“I want to ask about my mom! Hello? Is there anybody there?”

Levi heaved himself to his feet and rounded the corner, teacup and turban in hand.

“You kids wanna have your fortune told?”

Three pairs of eyes stared at him. Then the girl in the trio piped up: “You don’t look like a fortune teller!” She crossed her arms and glared at Levi under the fringe of her jet-black hair. Levi seldom felt threatened, much less by children, but this little girl was… different. He crouched down to meet her at eye level.

“I may not look like a fortune teller, but I am. Let’s see… would you say I’m rather short for an adult?”

She nodded and, with more hesitation, the blond and the brunet boy next to her did too.

“And short means weak, right?”

Again, a three headed nod.

“Okay. Hold my cup and the turban for me. You, and you, grab hold of my arms. No, my upper arms, like this. Good. Aaand… up!”

With one fluid movement, Levi got up, arms held out to his sides, two giggling boys clinging to them and dangling with their feet in the air. Gently, he let them down again.

“So, we have established that I’m strong although I don’t look like it, maybe you wanna test if I’m a fortune teller too?”

They followed him inside, chattering with excitement. The interior elicited some _ooh_ and _aah_ from the kids, as did the cats. Before Levi could so much as warn them, the brown-haired boy - Eren - had already picked up Sawney and cuddled him.

_Oh my god. Any moment now - any moment Sawney will bite his head off and his parents will sue my ass and…_

Sawney purred. He shoved his head into their small hands and meowed softly. Levi offered them seats, and the children sat down. The black-haired girl balanced the turban on her head, and Sawney climbed from Eren’s hands onto the blond boy and draped himself over his shoulders like an oversized fur coat. Eren sat in the middle with a determined look on his face. He fished a couple of crumpled dollar notes and some change from his jeans pocket and put them on the table. 

“Will that be enough?”, he asked nervously.

Levi glanced at the pitiful little amount of cash, then at the eager faces in front of him. He carefully selected a single dollar note and pushed the rest back.

“You’re in luck, kids. Today’s bargain day, all fortunes one dollar. So, what can I do for you?”

“My mom,” the brunet boy said. “She passed away, and I… I want to know if she’s happy where she is.”

“Hmm. I’m afraid necromancy is not among our services. But we can see what the tarot says, okay?” He got the card deck and riffled them with skilled fingers - thanks to long evenings of card games in the employees’ trailer with Gunther and Erd. “What are your names, kids?”

He learned that the girl was Mikasa, the blond boy Armin. And as expected, Eren told him a host of other things, all helpful trivia for his job. Apparently his mother had died two years prior, and since his father was nonexistent, he was raised by an old friend of his mother’s who had gotten child custody. Eren was quite happy living with Erwin, but it was a little lonely in their huge old farmhouse.

Levi instructed the boy to lift the cards, shuffled them once more and spread them out. “Now pick four and lay them out in a cross. Left, right, top, bottom.”

He regarded the cards, thankful that the colorful Rider Waite set was pretty self-explanatory. Not that he wasn’t perfectly capable of bullshitting his way through it… in fact, 99% of his fortune telling was bullshitting, because he definitely didn’t believe in this crap. But it was a lot easier if the card symbols remotely looked like what people might desire to hear.

He tapped his finger on the card that lay to Eren’s left, the queen of pentacles. “That is your mother, Eren. She was a good, kind woman, right? Beautiful, and a good cook. This card, on the right, stands for things that are solved, that you don’t have to worry about. It’s the nine of cups. Do you see how happy and satisfied the man in the picture looks, Eren? That means your mother has achieved everything she wanted, and she is content. She’s happy for you. This card on top stands for what is important now. The king of cups - I reckon that’s your foster father. A kind and generous man, but he’s not very emotional, or rather, he keeps his feelings to himself. He’s a good foster parent for you, right? I see you two getting along really well. So the only thing missing is -”

“A wedding!”, Eren blurted out, pointing at the two of cups excitedly. Well. That was one way to read the card.

Cautiously, Levi said: “The card indicates a partnership, or close friendship that is built on trust and respect. It doesn’t have to be marriage.”

But the boy bounced up and down in his seat. “I know, I know! I must find a spouse for Erwin!”

“Um, most adults prefer to arrange that for themselves…”

“Eh, but why doesn’t he have one by now? He’s too busy, or too shy. I must help!”

“We will help!” Armin and Mikasa cheered.

“No look kids, you can’t just -”

A large form in the door frame eclipsed all light from the outside. “Ah, finally I found you, you rascals.”

The voice was deep and pleasant, and as the huge mass moved into the narrow room it turned out to be a man. He wasn’t a bear, or a wardrobe, or a bulldozer, but he came pretty close.

And handsome. Much more handsome than was healthy for Levi’s heart rate. Blue eyes shone out of a tan face, wheat blond hair was casually combed back, the tips bleached golden by the sun. His appearance was turned downright illegal by a neatly ironed plaid flannel shirt and - yes, really - a denim overall. Both garments were faded and worn from frequent use and hugged his form in all the right ways.

Tiny laugh lines crinkled the corners of his eyes as he smiled down at the trio, but soon his expression went from mildly alarmed to downright baffled when the kids used all their weight and leverage to pull him down into a seat.

“Come here, you must listen to this - ” “Really Erwin, it’s so amazing - ” “- gonna get you a husband - “ “ he knows everything, honest - “

The blue eyes scanned Levi in search for an answer, and suddenly Levi became acutely aware that his hair was probably still standing in all directions due to his removing the turban and scratching all over his head. With a furious blush, he snatched the turban back from a protesting Mikasa and wedged it onto his head. Meanwhile, Bean only added to the tumult by leaping off his shelf into the man’s lap, who gave a muffled yelp. 

Levi sighed and reached for the teapot. “Tea?”

The newcomer looked from the pot to Levi, from Levi to the cat in his lap, from there to the other cat still perched on Armin’s shoulder and holding on for dear life, finally to the rumbustious children. He zoomed back in on the teapot as if it might offer an answer, and Levi took that as a yes. He poured two cups and placed one in front of the stranger.

Admiringly fast, the man got the children to let go of him and calm down enough that the noise wasn’t ear-shattering anymore. Then he raised his cup in a toast to Levi. “Madame Hanji, I presume?” he asked with a smile in his voice, and dear lord Levi really shouldn’t feel butterflies in his stomach at that, but his stomach didn’t share his opinion and merrily butterflied anyway.

“Hardly,” he managed to snort. “I’m only the sickness cover. But I’m as qualified as a carnival fortune teller can be. Wanna see my references?”

“Only references? No diploma?”

“I used them to line my pantry.”

Eren shyly plucked at the man’s rolled-up sleeve. “Erwin, he says you need a spouse.” Erwin nearly choked on his tea. “Really, all you do is work, and take care of me, you need someone to make you happy.”

“Eren, raising you makes me happy. There’s no - “

“But the cards said so!” The boy’s lip trembled. “And I wanna help find your destined love!”

“The cards said so, huh.” Erwin shot Levi a glance that he couldn’t fully read. “Were the cards so helpful to put a name to that destined love of mine?”

_Destined love, huh._ The butterflies were accompanied by some odd skips in his heartbeat. Great. All it needed was a handsome hunk to send him into a cardiac arrest - talk about attention starved.

“Maybe a look into the tea leaves may provide one,” Levi joked nevertheless, but he should have known better. The kids picked up on it and chanted: “Tea leaves, tea leaves!”

He gave Erwin an apologetic look. “You want to give it a shot?”

“I fear if I don’t I won’t hear the end of this.”

“Drink your tea until the leaves on the ground are barely covered, and focus on the things you want to learn,” Levi instructed. He gave the man time to drink and then proceeded himself. “Then, take the cup into your non-dominant hand and swirl it clockwise three times. Good. Now, place it upside down on the saucer to let it drain. Turn it around again and look inside. Start at the rim, at the handle, and work your way in a spiral down to the ground. The farther you go, the further in the future the things will be. Concentrate on the white places between the tea leaves, on not on the leaves themselves. Now, what do you see?”

Four heads bent over Erwin’s cup in breathless silence. A couple of seconds ticked by. Then Erwin looked back up at Levi, a mixture of wonder and suspicion in his face.

“How did you do this?”

“Did what?”

“Hearts! The whole cup is full of hearts!” Eren laughed and danced through the small trailer with Mikasa, causing the whole structure to rock wildly.

“What?” Levi blinked and snatched Erwin’s cup. Indeed it was full of hearts, no mistaking there.

“You must have done something wrong, here, look at my cup -” Levi turned his own cup over and froze.

It was full of hearts.

“Levi it’s you, it must be you!” Armin exclaimed, but Levi cut him off, more roughly than intended. “Listen, kiddo, I’m sure as hell no one’s destined love. Someone must have messed with the cups. Here, we’ll have another try and you’ll see - “

Eren stumbled backwards, and his elbow knocked the teapot out of Levi’s hand. It crashed to the ground, shards and leaves flying everywhere, hot tea covering the ground.

“Good grief! Is anyone hurt?”

No one was, but they all were stunned by the pattern formed on the floor by the remaining tea leaves. It was Levi’s face.


	2. Chapter 2

_That was a fucking weird day. Nothing else. Just a fucking weird day. Don’t make anything of it. You’re not falling for a country bumpkin. Repeat after me, Levi: you’re not falling for a darn country bumpkin._

For the remainder of the day, and while he locked up and delivered the day’s earnings and the cats to Hanji, and while he played cards with Gunther and Erd and lost horrendously, and while he lay in bed and tried to sleep, Levi berated himself. Yes, he had happened to bump into a ridiculously attractive man, and some spooky things had happened. Yes, he couldn’t even explain the level of connection he felt towards this man. It was totally out of character for him, and the sooner he forgot about it, the better. He had enough to worry about. He didn’t need to hook up with a single parent farmer in the middle of nowhere and spend the rest of his life harvesting corn and wheat - or feed pigs or cows or whatever this bloke did to earn his money. Whatever it was, Levi was ready to bet his life it was sweaty, smelly and unhygienic.

Sleep deprived and only partly resurrected by Gunther’s patented double mocha, he dragged himself to his daily tasks. Hanji was back to normal, so thankfully he wouldn’t have to fill in for her again. Dot had informed him that the tent pegs that held the pavilion roof over the food area needed refastening, so he got a mallet and set to work. It was February, still the back of his shirt was soon drenched in sweat. He took it off and wrapped it around his waist, opting to rather risk working in only his tanktop than feel the sweat trickle down his spine. The way the sunlight stung on his back told him there would be a thunderstorm soon, and he decided to give the other tents a double-check.

“Fortune teller _and_ handyman, I see you’re a Jack of all trades,” a deep voice teased him.

Levi rested a hand on the mallet handle and turned around. “Oh, and you haven’t even seen me making Crêpe Suzette on the monocycle yet.”

Erwin laughed. Today’s plaid shirt was green instead of blue. 

“So, you can afford to leave your crops alone for two days in a row?” Levi teased back.

“I have only come here to apologize properly for the ruckus yesterday.”

“It’s okay. They’re only kids, and if they had really bothered me I would have kicked them out.”

“Still, I owe you a replacement for the teapot. Eren was really upset about it, and he wouldn’t shut up until I promised him to invite you for dinner and give you a new one. My mother had more tea sets than any reasonable human being should own, so really you’d be doing me a favor.” Erwin blushed and rubbed the back of his head. “So, uh, we’d be really happy if you accepted.”

“I have to work until closing time today, sorry,” Levi replied, but in this moment Hanji came prancing along in all her jingling glory.

“We’ll be closing early today because of a thunderstorm heading our way, Dot just told me,” she purred and draped an arm over Levi’s shoulder. He opened his mouth in protest, but she shushed him. “And of course I will give you a ride, you can’t walk across town in a storm, can you? No fear, me and my trusted Jeep will deliver you safely. After that, however, you’ll be your host’s responsibility. You will take good care of my precious Levi, won’t you?”

Erwin took a formal bow and pretended to kiss her hand. “It will be an honour, madame.”

“But it was Hanji’s teapot - “ Levi started but yelped when a high-heeled boot stomped down hard on his foot. Cursing, he hobbled around and clutched at it.

“Oops, I’m so clumsy,” she tutted. 

Hesitantly, Erwin offered: “I’m sorry, I failed to realize that it was your property that got damaged. Would you like to join us?”

Hanji batted her eyes at him. “Honey, I’d love to wine and dine with a gorgeous hunk like you, but I already have an appointment. And if anyone did suffer inconveniences, it was Levi. No, I’ll get this little muffin to you when, around 6?, and you’ll have a lovely evening. Toodles!”

She jingled off, leaving the two men staring after her. Then, Erwin smiled again.

“I take it you accept our invitation, then.”

“Do I look like I had a say in the matter?”

Erwin managed to look a tad hurt at this, so Levi hastily added: “I didn’t mean it like that. Thank you for the invitation, and I’m glad I can come. Hanji just has this terrible talent for bringing out the worst in me.”

“So this is your worst? Thank god, because your face when you swept us out yesterday let me fear for my life. But in fact,” Erwin leaned closer with a smirk, “you’re all bark and no bite, right?”

Levi could have replied a host of things, from teasing innuendo to something really ruinous, but Erwin’s sudden proximity was a severe distraction. He suddenly became acutely aware that he was sweaty and gross and his hair guaranteed to be a mess again, and he swore there and then that this night his attire would be nothing short of immaculate.

But the again, the gaze that swept over his damp tanktop and jeans as Erwin said goodbye seemed pretty approving.

Around midday, the thunderstorm broke loose, and the carnival was closed for the day. While the last visitors dashed to the exit, Levi made a final round to check if everything was okay, closed a loose tent flap and put away some forgotten trash cans that would otherwise be sent rolling over the midway by the ever stronger gusts of wind. Dripping, he returned to the trailer he shared with a couple of other handymen and where he called a bunk his temporary home.

Everyone else was already in, and with the windows closed and wet clothes everywhere it was like entering a steam bath. Levi didn’t mind having to live with few belongings, it was in fact liberating to have so little to worry about. He had also grown quite fond of Gunther and Erd and a couple of others. The close proximity and lack of privacy, however, was beginning to get on his nerves. Not for the first time he wondered if it was time to move on.

Still, he didn’t feel like moping in his bunk for the rest of the afternoon, so he changed into a dry t-shirt and sweatpants and joined the others for the inevitable card games and TV to pass the time.

The figures on his watch changed at a snail’s pace, and repeatedly he checked his phone because he was sure his watch was broken. But finally, it was time to head to the shower, but with all the cleaning and shaving and grooming that needed doing he found that suddenly big chunks of time broke off and disappeared into nothingness, and he had to race through everything before he could start fretting over his meagre wardrobe. He settled for a plain black shirt and black pants, and was just dabbing on some aftershave when Hanji knocked on the door.

Levi grabbed his jacket and tried to usher her outside quickly, but of course she managed a: “Gee, Levi, you look so pretty for your dinner date! Wow, you even put on perfume? Not taking any chances I see.”

Bright red in the face and followed by a chorus of good-natured wolf whistles, he manhandled her outside and hissed: “Shut the fuck up, Hanji! Now these dimwits will tease me for the rest of eternity.”

She adjusted her sou’wester against the wind and rain and chuckled. “Oh Levi, I wouldn’t worry about that. What effects will a few ripples in this tiny teacup have on your life? None. Let them have some fun.”

They trudged through the mud, leaning against the strong wind and squinting into the rain. When they had finally reached the safety of Hanji’s Jeep and buckled up, Hanji wiped her glasses that had gotten wet in spite of the rim on her ridiculous hat.

“Hanji, you really should accompany us.”

She let go of the ignition key that she had been about to turn and was silent for a short moment. Then she turned to face Levi, and he jolted back, because he saw a look on her face that he’d never seen on her.

Hanji was furious.

“You’re dead set on ruining this for yourself, aren’t you? But I’m not letting you. You and Erwin, you’re meant to be. You sense it yourself, and that scares you. But if you run away now, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. So you’re going to this dinner, and you’re going to fucking enjoy it even if I have to break your fucking legs.”

She huffed and faced the windshield again, turned the key and slammed her foot on the accelerator so hard that the wheels shortly skidded in the mud before they gripped and the car lurched forward.

Levi grasped his seatbelt. Hanji’s driving was insane. She always sped and cut corners, changed lanes and wove through traffic as if she somehow knew where every other car would be at any given moment. She never even got close to an accident, but still Levi was damn near soiling his pants every time he rode with her.

But like every time, they reached their destination perfectly safe (and in record time). It was a farmhouse outside of town, tucked away between corn and wheat fields and meadows. They couldn’t make out much in the darkness and pouring rain, but it looked well kept and surprisingly neat. Levi wasn’t sure what he had expected - a dunghill and an assortment of rusty car wrecks and tractors maybe. He had to admit it pleased him immensely.

He refused to look into it too much. The level of tidiness in the Smith estate wasn’t his business, was it?

Levi turned up his collar and dashed to the shelter of the porch. He pulled the screen door open and knocked on the front door, hoping it would be heard inside over the combined noises of rain, wind and thunder. But within seconds, the door was opened. Erwin stood there, a kitchen towel slung over his shoulder, the glow of lamps behind him just as warm and inviting as the smell of baking food. He held out his hand and, when Levi took it, guided him into the house. Fucking held Levi’s hand and pulled him inside as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Welcome. I’m glad you could make it in this rotten weather,” he said with a vague hint of pink on his cheeks. “Here, I’ll hang up your wet jacket.” He regarded Levi’s dripping hair, disappeared into a doorway to the side and emerged again with a fluffy towel. “Do you want to blow-dry your hair, or change?”

“No, it’s okay,” Levi replied, toed off his shoes and draped the towel over his head. It irritated him slightly that all his earlier styling efforts were for naught, but on the other hand Erwin had seem him twice with messy hair and never batted an eyelid. Levi had no idea if the invitation was due to a sense of obligation or real interest, and he tried not get his hopes up too high. 

“Dinner will be ready soon,” Erwin said when Levi had finished towelling off and slung the towel around his neck. “I hope you like tater tots casserole? Eren loves it and he begged me to cook it.” He looked and sounded endearingly apologetic.

“Christ, I haven’t eaten something like that in fucking _months_ ,” Levi marvelled, and the farmer positively glowed.

“How about I show you around the chinaware cabinets in the meantime?” When Levi nodded his approval, Erwin led the way through a doorway to the right.

It was a dining room, cold and apparently rarely used. Erwin indicated to a glass showcase, which contained a collection of tea and coffee sets, ornate flower vases and bric-a-brac. Levi scanned the items for a suitable replacement, but faltered when he realized most of the china was handpainted and valuable.

As if reading his thoughts, Erwin said: “I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t sure I’m perfectly okay with giving away every single piece in there. Just pick something that you think most suitable for Madame Hanji. I said my mother collected them, but they don’t hold any sentimental value to me. I have other memories and keepsakes of her.”

He looked sincere enough, and taking him by the word Levi chose a tea pot with a chinese style red dragon. Erwin insisted they packed up the whole set for six, complete with sugar bowl and milk jug (“No use in separating them,” his words were).

In the middle of wrapping up everything in old newspapers, Eren turned up, still a little contrite but happy that Levi had picked such a pretty set and was ready to forgive him.

“You don’t think the old lady would be angry that her valuables end up in a carnival fortune teller’s tent?”, Levi asked.

“Oh, I’m sure nan Smith would be happy her service gets out and about instead of collecting dust in a room no one ever enters,” Erwin reassured him. “With only the two of us here, we don’t get to use much of the house aside from the kitchen, the family room and our bedrooms.”

A tick of silence passed by, only interrupted by a timer in the kitchen buzzing off. Erwin placed a warm hand in the small of Levi’s back to lead him there, and again it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

Entering the kitchen was like stepping into another world. It was well lit and warm, cozy and filled with the aroma of food. Moreover, if felt like a home. Corner seat, wooden cabinets, a well-worn wooden floor and rag rugs - it was painfully cliché, and yet Levi felt a pang of longing in his chest. He took a seat on the bench and caught himself wondering what it would be like sitting down here every evening, chatting with Erwin and Eren about their respective days. What it would be like to have a home instead of only a place to live in. He thought of his empty apartment where only the sounds from the radio or television accompanied the echoes in his head.

Erwin took the casserole out of the oven and set the bubbling dish on a corkboard on the table. Without having to be reminded, Eren got plates and cutlery and even thought of napkins. While they ate, they talked about the carnival, and Levi explained what he did, how he had ended up there and about his regular life. He told them he was a novelist and joined the carnival as means of a sabbatical as well as source of inspiration. 

Eren was impressed. Since he lived here, Erwin had woken his love for reading, and he was a regular at the library. It fascinated him to learn how the stories he enjoyed so much came into being. At first, he didn’t understand how earning your money by writing stories all day could be exhausting, but Levi explained to him that creativity wasn’t an unfailing source that you could simply tap at will. For every book he published, there were four or five that never made it, and for the one published book the manuscript was rewritten and revised countless times. The publisher and editor had demands and ideas, and while it was his agent’s job to keep them off his back as much as possible he couldn’t ignore them - after all they were the ones who fed him.

Erwin went weirdly quiet while Levi talked with the boy but payed close attention. When every last crumb of the casserole was gone and followed by a generous serving of ice cream, Eren was sent upstairs to finish his homework and Erwin poured Levi and himself coffee.

Levi watched the blond spoon scandalous amounts of sugar and creamer into his mug and sipped his own coffee black.

“So, what’s been eating you? Does my being an author bother you for some reason?”

Erwin stirred his coffee and leaned back with a slight smile that Levi couldn’t read.

“No, it doesn’t bother me.” He took a sip and regarded Levi over the rim of his mug. “Or rather… wait. It’ll be easier to show you than explain. Will you excuse me for a moment?”

Levi nodded, and Erwin disappeared through the doorway to some place in the back of the house. After some moments of faint rustling noises he came back carrying some paperbacks and placed them gingerly on the table.

Levi recognized them without needing a second look.

Erwin sat down again, the deepest blush Levi had seen on him so far spreading over his cheekbones.

“Okay, maybe it does bother me a little for two reasons. One, I have read pretty much everything you’ve written, so I’m experiencing a pretty strong fanboy moment, and believe me it’s very embarrassing.”

Levi reached out and took one of the volumes, letting his fingers trail along the slight cracks in the back and over the worn, rounded edges. These books hadn’t been read once, but multiple times. He pictured them lying on Erwin’s nightstand, on the bench he’d seen under the tree in the front yard, wedged between the throw pillows on the couch. Without a doubt he knew they were well loved, and it touched him that his words had reached out to this man and affected him so deeply. 

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Erwin,” he said slowly. “I’m having a fanboy moment of my own right now. You see, even without writing about my own life I always pour pieces of myself into my books. I can’t help it - I couldn’t churn out stories merely for entertainment. And it makes me feel vulnerable because these books - they speak with my very own voice. Which is why I avoid publicity like the plague. I don’t do interviews or readings or autograph hours, never. Not because I’m snotty or eccentric, but because I feel like i’m laid bare for everyone to see. So i know how well my books sell, but I don’t know what my readers think of them. Aside from bitchy critics, but honestly they don’t count. But I see you love them, and you weren’t afraid to tell me.” He looked up and met Erwin’s eyes. “Thank you, Erwin. You have no idea how much that means to me.”

He put the book back and took another sip of his coffee, collecting himself.

“You said there was another thing.”

Erwin chuckled. “I see you don’t get distracted easily. Well then. I was going to ask you to leave the carnival and become my farmhand instead. There’s a lot of work to do, and I could very well use another pair of hands around. But since you’re no laborer, I’m out of reasons for asking you to stay.”

A smirk tugged at Levi’s lips, but he fought it down. Instead, he feigned indifference. “Oh? Well, I would expect a respected farmer like you will have no difficulties finding another farmhand.”

“Maybe.” Erwin played along, only the faint laugh lines in the corners of his eyes betraying his amusement.

“Unless,” Levi leaned forward and folded his hands on the table, “you had ulterior motives for asking me and hoped I would ultimately become something more than a farmhand.”

Erwin cocked an eyebrow. “Would that be a bad thing?”

“It wouldn’t be… unwelcome. But… I’m not a people person. I won’t lie to you, Erwin, I’ve never been in a relationship, and I have no idea if I could make one work. I’m not used to expressing my feelings, or dealing with other people’s feelings and expectations. I really like you - I like you a lot more than should be possible after this short amount of time - but I don’t want to end up breaking your heart.”

“My heart doesn’t break that easily. And you’ll never know if you never give it a try.”

Levi pulled out his phone. “I should ask Hanji to pick me up now. After the storm there will be a lot of work tomorrow.” All his defenses were back up, walls in place, all windows closed. Erwin seemed to sense that and didn’t press any further.

“No need to bother her to come out here again,” he said instead, getting up. “I can give you a ride back. Let me just get Eren into bed.”

He left the kitchen without looking back, and Levi could have slapped himself. 

The drive back to the carnival went by in silence. A couple of times Erwin opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but he always checked himself. But as Levi unbuckled, Erwin stilled his hand.

“Levi, I know it sounds crazy after we’ve only talked a couple of times. But I’ve never felt a connection this deep with anyone else before. I’m not asking you for anything you don’t want to freely give. I don’t…” He trailed off, unsure what else to say. “You know where to find me,” he said finally.

Levi leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Thank you,” he said, although he didn’t even know what he was thanking Erwin for. He got out, collected the box with the tea service from the back seat and trudged off into the darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

Hanji was very pleased with the beautiful china and admired the dragon design from every angle.

She was a lot less pleased with the outcome of the evening.

“He asked you to stay with him, practically _proposed_ to you, and you refused?”, she screeched incredulously.

Levi rolled his eyes. “Dammit, Hanji, I can’t just start a live-in relationship with someone I’ve only just met!”

She dragged a palm down her face in exasperation. “Just staying there doesn’t mean it’s a live-in romantic relationship right away, you moron.”

“No? And what do you want me to do? Live in the same house with him and pine my ass off?”

“If that’s what it takes to get your lily-livered ass going, then yes!”

In response, he only stubbornly crossed his arms and scowled.

“Look, honey,” she tried again. “do you like him?”

He looked away. “Yes.”

“And he likes you?”

“Apparently, yes.”

“Do you love each other?”

“I have no idea! We don’t even know each other!”

“Could it, at one point, _become_ love?”

“Possibly.” Levi chewed his lip.

“And how, my darling pumpkin, my clueless baby, do you want to find out if you run away?”

He mumbled something.

“What was that, my precious? I didn’t hear you.”

“I said I can’t.”

“So the only way to find it out is giving it a shot.”

“Look, I’m not staying here on the slim chance of _maybe_ finding romance when it means I can very possibly break his and the kid’s hearts.” He stormed out and slammed the door behind him.

Hanji sighed and scratched Sawney’s ears. “Tssk, poor stubborn child. How many more signs does he need us to give him?”

Two days later, Pixis Amusements prepared to leave town. Levi hadn’t seen Erwin or the kids again, and when his eyes scanned the crowds they were surely only looking for potential troublemakers, not for a certain blond head.

He didn’t know if he should be relieved or annoyed.

Then, just as he was helping Hanji securing all her belongings in her little trailer, a small voice addressed them.

“Erm, hello… I only wanted to ask if you like your new teapot?”

Outside, straddled on his bike and peeking in, was Eren.

Levi frowned. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in school now?”

The boy grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh, I may have skipped.”

“You skipped school just so you could check on us?”, Hanji chirped. “How sweet of you.” She went outside and ruffled Eren’s hair. “Thank you very much. I _love_ my new teapot, it’s so pretty, and it works really well! I think you were meant to break my old pot so I could get this one.”

Eren beamed and puffed his chest out.

“That doesn’t mean you get to break more stuff, kiddo,” Levi threw in with a wink.

“How’s your father - I mean, Erwin? Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.”

“It’s okay,” Eren brushed it off. “He’s been really moody lately. You know, he was talking about how he really, really needs a farmhand, and he asked me if I thought that Levi would be strong and competent enough for it, and then all of a sudden he doesn’t want to hear about it when I bring it up. When adults do it it’s okay, but if I behaved like that he would tell me to stop moping. Did you have a fight with Erwin?” His eyes bore into Levi with more than just a hint of accusation.

“We didn’t fight. I told him I can’t, that’s all,” Levi said and wondered why the fuck he felt the need to defend himself. “Remember, I’m only taking a sabbatical, and I will have to return to my own life soon.”

Eren fiddled with the bell on his bicycle. “I know. But… if you lived with us… you wouldn’t be moving around anymore… and, and you could write there too… we have so many rooms, you could have your own bedroom, and a study…” He trailed off, suddenly aware that he was meddling with adults’ business. “I’m sorry. Will you come back some day?”

“The carnival will be back next year at the same time, sweetheart, and I’m looking forward to seeing you again,” Hanji said warmly. “Tell you what, if you come see me i’ll tell you your fortune for free, okay?”

“Okay,” he nodded, slightly pacified. “I’ll bet by then I’ve grown so much that you can’t pick me up anymore!” He added to Levi. “Oh… right. You won’t be coming back with the carnival.”

An awkward silence followed, and then Eren muttered something about better getting back to school before he got into trouble, and with a last wave he pedaled off.

The rest of the afternoon, Levi helped with dismantling and packing, and felt awful. Voices echoed in his head in endless repeat.

Hanji: “If you run away now, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”  
Erwin: “Would that be a bad thing?”  
Eren: “But… if you lived with us… you wouldn’t be moving around anymore… “  
And finally Hanji again: “You and Erwin, you’re meant to be.”

_Meant to be._

He thought of the warmth that spread in him when Erwin smiled at him, the way his skin prickled after the slightest of fleeting touches. He thought of his cold, empty apartment and the bubble of coziness that was the Smith household.

All these months, while he had stepped out of his own life and let the world rush past, he had had the distinctive feeling that something lay in his way, something that was waiting for him. Something he would recognized when he came across it. Now, when he thought of the journey ahead, he only felt emptiness, a formless mass of towns and cities that held no meaning to him and never would. And when he returned to what he knew, what would he have gained? Some memories and experiences, sure. He would fit back in smoothly, like you pull on an old and well-worn glove. His desk would be there, gleaming after the removal of a year’s worth of dust, his Monday morning coffee in the corner café where he would be greeted with vague recognition. There would be his yoga class on Thursdays, and regular lunchtimes with his agent Petra. His editor Rico would be breathing down their necks for the progress on his next book.

And all the time, he would be thinking of what he might or might not have left behind.

Something brushing past his knees disturbed his bleak train of thought, and he looked down to find Bean weave through his legs. He bent down to scratch the massive Maine Coon’s head.

“Hey, boy. What have you got in your mouth there? Did you catch a mouse? Good boy I guess, but don’t dump it on my shoe, please.”

Bean looked up at him and purred.

“Is that my scarf? What the fuck are you doing with my scarf? Give me that.”

Levi made to grab at the garment, but Bean scooted out of his reach. He looked over his shoulder to make sure he had Levi’s undivided attention and bolted. Cursing, Levi ran after him and weaved his way through the maze of trailers. Finally, the large brown fur in front of him rounded a corner and he skidded around just in time to see a fluffy tail disappear in the open doorway of a trailer.

“Hah, got you now, fleabag,” Levi muttered to himself as he followed. It was his own trailer, and when he set eyes on his bunk he stopped dead in his tracks. Sawney was sitting on it with a pair of Levi’s boxers, accompanied by Bean and the scarf. Somehow, the cats had managed to drag his duffel bag from under the bed and claw most of the clothing out of his locker.

With an exhale of air that was half a huff and half a chuckle, Levi dropped on the bed between them.

“So that’s how it is, then? You’re kicking me out?”

Sawney made a _mrrp_ sound that sounded hilariously tiny for such a large cat, and Bean rubbed his head against Levi’s elbow. Levi reached out with both hands and patted their backs.

“Alright then. I’ll ask Hanji to give me a lift, then.”

“No need to ask Hanji to give you a lift, honey,” her voice came from the small lounge area around the corner. When he peeked around, he saw she was sitting at the table, one elbow propped up and idly twirling the car key around her finger. She gave him a shit-eating grin.

“How did you…?”

With a bored expression, she inspected her fingernails. “The cards told me, honey. Or was it your palm? Tssk. Ah no, it was the crystal sphere.”

“You’re shitting me. Are you trying to tell me you’re a real - “

“Baby buns, I thought we agreed that this is all mumbo jumbo and humbug? You’re not turning into a believer, are you?”

He stared at her, trying to figure out her enigmatic face.

“Because that would deeply disappoint me. Did you get any ominous feelings of foreboding and… _destiny_ lately?” Now her tone made it clear she was mocking him.

“Hanji, have you been messing with my mind so I decided to join the freaking carnival? Have you and your moggies and tea leaves and whatnot performed any hocus pocus on me?”

“Who knows.” she waved dismissively. “Have you packed your stuff yet? No? Well, off you go. Chop chop.”

Levi grinned as he snatched his bag, he grinned as he stuffed his belongings into it, he grinned as he cuddled Sawney and Bean one last time (despite his grouching about the shedding and the smell he was quite fond of them), and he grinned as he flitted to Hanji’s Jeep and impatiently jiggled his leg while he waited for her to catch up.

“Stop it, you’re creeping me out. You’re not a grinner. You grin like a man who heads to the graveyard with a shovel at midnight.”

She unlocked the car, and as she put it in reverse she said nonchalantly: “I haven’t told Dot anything yet. You know, in case Erwin tells you to get lost.”

“What?”

“Oh my god, just look at you,” Hanji teased. “But who knows? You shot him down two days ago and haven’t heard or seen him ever since. Maybe he’ll chase us off his property with a pitchfork.”

“Speak for yourself, Hanji. And can you speed the fuck up a little?”

When they arrived, the house was quiet and empty, and no one answered the doorbell.

“What now?” Hanji asked. “Do you want me to wait a little with you, or - “

“No.” Levi hoisted his duffel bag out of the Jeep and put it on the porch. “You need to go. Sawney and Bean are waiting for you, and the others will be leaving soon. Give Dot my regards, excuses and whatever.”

“Oh, I don’t think he will mind much. If there’s anything you need, call me up, okay? Or… shit, call me anyway. I need to know how you’re doing, my grumpy shortstack.” She hugged him tight, dangling earrings dangerously close to his eyes.

“I’ll miss you, Hanji.”

“No you won’t.” She pulled back and smiled. “You will be too busy being happy.”

She drove off, and when the last dust from her departure had settled there was nothing more to do than sit on the front step and wait. Listen to the wind rustle the tree in front of the house, watch the clouds pass overhead and feel a deep peace settle into him. He wasn’t anxious anymore that Erwin would turn him away - somehow he knew that now he was here, everything would be good. He was where he belonged.

A small while later, a pickup truck - of course it had to be a damn pickup truck - ambled down the driveway and came to a rather haphazard stop in the yard. Eren nearly fell out the passenger side and made a beeline for Levi, while Erwin followed slower, like a man caught in a daydream.

“Levi! You came back! Are you going to stay? Are you Erwin’s destined love? You must be, the teacups said so!”

“In any case, Levi is welcome here,” Erwin said with a smile. He glanced down at the duffel bag. “For as long as he likes.”

Being enveloped by that warm smile, the butterflies in Levi’s stomach returned full force. But what felt even better was being enveloped by Erwin’s arms moments later. He leaned his face against the soft flannel, inhaled the scent of laundry detergent, lavender and traces of something warm and musky underneath. His hands felt the warmth of Erwin’s body through the shirt, and he could faintly hear his heartbeat.

It was all-encompassing. Warm. Secure. It was… home.

“How about we go inside and get a room ready for you?”, Erwin muttered into his hair.

“Sounds like a good idea.”

Erwin opened the door and picked up Levi’s duffel bag.

“And after dinner we’ll discuss your daily chores on the farm.”

Levi’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”

“Of course. I asked you to be my farmhand, remember? We can’t afford any freeloaders here.” The tip of Erwin’s tongue pushed through his dirty grin. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Levi.”

Levi couldn’t find it in himself to blame him.


	4. Epilogue

“So - what do you think?”

Rico slowly closed the manuscript, pushed the reading glasses up into her hair and swivelled her office chair to face the window.

Petra and Levi exchanged nervous glances.

Untroubled by their presence, Rico leaned back in her chair and hummed softly to herself while her eyes were far away. After a moment, she came back, let her chair snap forward again and turned to face them.

“I have to say, you have balls Levi.” She put the glasses back on her nose only so she could glare at him over the rim. “You disappear into thin air for more than a year, and then you waltz in here with a _finished_ and _unsolicited_ manuscript.”

Rico let that sink in, mostly, Levi suspected, for the effect of watching Petra and him squirm in their seats.

“You are lucky,” she continued and slammed her palm down on the manuscript, “you are so fucking lucky that this is the best thing you have ever written.”

“Well, you have only skimmed it,” Levi interjected.

“It’s enough, since I know your writing. Of course, I have to look at it in detail, and there will be some editing and adjustments to make, but ultimately,” Rico leaned back again, “yes, I think we will publish it.”

Once again she pondered for a moment, and when she spoke again, she chose her words carefully. “Levi, I know you long enough to know this is a very… personal work. Are you perfectly sure you will be okay with this being published?”

His voice was firm. “Yes. I gave it some thought because at first it was just something I had to get out of my system, so basically I wrote it for myself. But then I let Erwin read it, and he said it was beautiful and too good to disappear in my drawer, and then I showed it to Petra and she used up an entire tissue box over it.”

“They have a point.” Rico scribbled something on a post-it and stuck it on the cover sheet that carried the title ‘Leaves of Fortune’. “I’ll set my team to it, and you’ll hear from me, okay?”

This was as much praise as he was ever going to get from his no-nonsense editor, and he was glad he didn’t have to rely on her praise and reassurance.

The last months with Erwin had thoroughly spoiled him in this aspect. He was used to Petra’s and Rico’s professional and matter-of-fact judgement, although Petra cared about him personally too. But Erwin found everything he did or said utterly amazing, and wasn’t shy to let Levi know. He dished out compliments like they weighed nothing, and never failed to smile goofily at a flustered Levi.

Much to his own surprise, Levi found himself helping out on the farm and really enjoying it. Since he had lived by himself for many years, he had assumed it difficult to share a place with others, but it slipped into the Smith family as if he’d always lived here. Erwin made way for Levi wherever it was possible, leaving room for all his quirks and manners while still balancing a normal routine for Eren. 

In general Levi was surprised a lot of the time. Building and maintaining a relationship had always sounded like a load of tedious work and not like a mutual dance of moving backwards and forwards, of giving and receiving. Sure, his leaving tea cups all over the place was just as annoying as Erwin having breakfast in t-shirt and boxers. But on the whole, they were ridiculously happy with each other, and instead of grating their nerves it made the other all the more endearing.

They took it slow, at a leisurely pace, mostly due to Levi’s reservations. But given that they shared an extraordinarily strong bond right from the start, they weren’t in any particular hurry. Erwin seemed comfortable with everything Levi had to offer. And even long after Levi took to sleeping in Erwin’s bed most nights, he still kept his own room as a refuge in case he needed it. He rarely did, but it was a comforting to know that on top of all the affection and stability Levi might wish for Erwin was happy to supply him with times to retreat and air to breathe without ever questioning the depth of his love.

In addition to a bedroom he claimed one room as his study, and slowly but surely he had Petra mail him more or less all of his belongings until one day he asked her to adopt his houseplants (that she had taken care of anyway while he was away) and terminate his lease. Poring over his old notes and drafts was like looking into another century. It all sounded empty and pretentious to him, like written by a hermit who only had vague ideas of human society and interactions, and only now did he realize how burned out he really had been. He filled trashcan after trashcan, both in his study and on his computer desktop.

What stuck out, however, was his ledger where he had kept his notes and thoughts while on the road. Leafing through it, Levi recapped his own journey, both physical and spiritual, where in the bright make-believe of the carnival he had not only found himself but love. He felt the familiar but long missed rush of inspiration, and without a second thought he pulled up an empty document and began to write.

Now, on the way back home from his meeting with Rico and Petra, Levi drove a little faster than was maybe advisable. The city, where he had lived so long without any issues, made him edgy and tense now, and he longed to be back in rural surroundings. Both women had complimented him on his healthy looks. The sun had tanned him slightly, and the hard work kept him fit in ways no studio workout ever could. And working outside put his mind at ease like few other things could, maybe his nightly cup of tea with Erwin in front of the fireplace. 

For the 17th time, Levi checked his jeans pocket and smiled to himself. Today, it was going to be Erwin who was in for a hell of a surprise.

Finally, the old building came into view, and Levi parked next to it. In the kitchen, Erwin was busy cooking dinner, and Eren sat at the table with dangling legs and a fierce look of concentration over his mandala coloring book. 

That was another change - Erwin had officially adopted Eren and beamed with joy every time the boy called him “dad” (he insisted that it would be okay if Eren kept calling him by his name, but being accepted not only as a guardian but family meant more to him than he ever could express).

“Hey guys, I’m home,” Levi announced as he hung up his keys.

Erwin smiled over his shoulder. “Oh, hi. How did it go?”

Eren perked up too, and Levi took the ring from his front pocket and winked conspiratorially at him. The boy gave him two thumbs up, but remained silent and only watched with rapt attention as Levi approached the tall blond, who had his back turned to them again and stirred the pasta sauce.

“It went really well,” Levi drawled. “so well in fact, that I may soon resign as your handyman.

Erwin whirled around on the spot, spoon dripping sauce everywhere.

“You… what?”

“I will resign as your handyman,” Levi repeated slowly, “because I will be able to significantly raise my own income. But I would like to stay as your husband. If you’ll let me, that is.” He held out the slim gold band.

With a relieved sigh, Erwin placed the spoon on the counter next to the stove. “Christ, Levi, I thought you’d never ask.”

“Is that a yes?”

Levi was pretty sure he deserved the eyeroll he got, and with a smirk he slipped the ring on Erwin’s ring finger and kissed him.

Eren came up and hugged them both. Erwin ruffled the boy’s hair. “Is that okay for you too? Are you happy for us?”

“Of course I am! So the tea leaves were right all along! But there’s one thing,” he pushed out his lower lip in a well calculated pout, “the house is still so big and so empty. Once you get married, can’t you foster some more children?”

“What a great idea! I think we can easily take in two or three kids. What about it Erwin, should we foster some brats? The house could easily accommodate two or three.”

Erwin covered his eyes with his hand and laughed. “Just how long have you two been planning this?”

Levi and Eren exchanged a scandalized look. “Us? Planning this? Conspiring against you, in your own home? We’d never dare.” Levi stuck his tongue out.

Being embraced by his soon-to-be husband and his soon-to-be son was pure bliss, and the only thing that could make Levi even happier was the prospect of growing old in this house, with this man.

He wanted to say as much, convey his feelings, but somehow the words got tangled on the way from his brain to his mouth, and what came out was a slightly muffled: “Oh well. Anyone fancy a cup of tea?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find my SNK and personal blog under [glassesgirl0401](http://glassesgirl0401.tumblr.com)

**Author's Note:**

> You can find my SNK and personal blog under [glassesgirl0401](http://glassesgirl0401.tumblr.com)


End file.
